Preparing for GDPR at urbanbubble

Date: November 16, 2017

Author: urbanbubble

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The General Data Protection Regulation will affect almost every business in Britain: urbanbubble is no exception.

The EU-led legislation will be enforced on 25th May 2018, transforming the way in which organisations control and process data held on European citizens. This has been widely documented in business circles, but for some, the specific implications of the regulation are a little less clear. What exactly does GDPR mean for urbanbubble and its customers? And what are we doing to prepare accordingly?

Here’s everything you need to know.

What GDPR means for property management

GDPR dictates that no business can control or process data in quite the same way as before. From May 2018, European citizens will gain greater control over their own personal information, determining the specific ways in which businesses can use their data. Currently, this information is handled in accordance with rules outlined by the Data Protection Act 1998. However, GDPR will replace this legislation, tightening laws across the board.

As a leading property management company, urbanbubble currently hold data on both leaseholders and residents – so GDPR is enormously significant for us and our industry. The penalties for mishandling data will be huge (seven figures in some cases), so it’s crucial to get it right – from staff awareness training, to correctly reporting data breaches, to cementing the highest possible levels of data protection.

In our eyes, GDPR is a beneficial and important move made to reflect the times we live in. Everyone has the right to know what data is held on them, and why that data is held in the first instance. They also deserve to have their information safeguarded, limiting the risk of it falling into the wrong hands.

How urbanbubble are preparing for GDPR

At urbanbubble, we recognise GDPR as an opportunity to review our current data processes; strengthening existing policies and identifying areas that require further work.

Ultimately, our robust, smartly-organised system means minimal changes are required, although we will continue to conduct regular, thorough assessments and software updates. We are intimately familiar with our data, which is documented and mapped out within organisational plans used to train staff. We also work alongside IT consultants to maintain a secure network and cloud-based services.

The main points of address are the company’s current Data Protection Policy and IT & Communications Policy. Terms are being updated to reflect GDPR, and these will be rolled out across staff training programmes moving forwards.

In addition, we are rechecking current suppliers where systems are holding data to ensure they comply with the new security and data control requirements. As an extra precaution, we are in discussions with third parties to complete penetration testing – auditing the effectiveness of our physical and IT security measures.

Preparing for GDPR is an ongoing process, but anyone involved in data handling should always be taking all possible measures to handle/protect information to the best of their ability.

GDPR and urbanbubble leaseholders

Unless leaseholders have their own business that handles EU citizen data, they will not need to worry about their urbanbubble property with regards to GDPR. We pride ourselves on the fact that our leaseholders trust us to take care of data, and we will strive to maintain these confidence levels.

Overall, urbanbubble are committed to an approach that does not just comply with GDPR, but fully embraces it. We want our clients to receive the best possible service, and we’re doing everything required to continue providing it. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer support team.